Sachusetts



LOCKE & WEED EN.

Packing Lamp Shades.

Patented Nov. 24, 1868.

No. 84,289. a

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EDWARD A. LOCKE AND WILLIAM N. WEEDEN, OF BOSTON, MAS- SACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No. 84,289, dated November 24, 1868.

MODE or PACKING LAMP-SHADES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the lame.

To ,all whom it may concern 'Be it known that we, EDWARD A. Locxn and WIL- LIAM N. WEEDEN, of the city of Boston, and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new Mode of Packing, and a new and improved Package of Paper Lamp- Shade Blanks; and we do hereby declare that the fol lowing, taken in connection with the drawings which accompany and form, part of this specification, is a description of our invention, snflicient to enable those skilled in the art to practise it.

Paper lamp-shades are almost always made of a conical shape, and, as prepared audput upfpr sale and sent from the factory, are" eithei secured to the metal ring.

which sustains them, and by means of which they are applied to the lamp, or they are simply sent to market in their conical shape, with their two edges (which formed the ends of the blank) firmly cemented together, and the retailer, in such case, attaches the metallic ring to the conical shade at the time of sale.

In either one or the other of these conditions, (the paper-shade being first, in both cases,cemeuted together at. its ends, and of theTull dimensions, and occupying the same space as when put upon a lamp for use,) shades have heretofore been constructed and sent forth by'wholesaleand in such large, bulky form, which is thelargest and most inconvenient that can be given it for commercial purposes, it remains through all its transportations and numerous handlings, from the manufacturer to the consumer, until it becomes worn out by use. This bulky form is a very serious matter, in view of the many millions of shades annually spread broadcast over the land, the delicate and destructible char acter of the material of which they are made, the many hands through which they pass to the consumer, and the total aggregate loss by damage in packing,

. transporting, and careless treatment.

It is, perhaps, the very worst possible form in which an article made of thin paper could be transported, for any slight. weight, whether from above or upon its sides, is likely at any time to indent, bend, or crush it. It occupies too large a space, and if a few only be packed with other articles, as in an assorted lot of merchants goods, a large percentage of them is found to be damaged upon opening the case, the weightier articles having compressed or torn them, and thus allowing the contents of the case to jolt about loosely for the rest of the journey. Nor will their value warrant the cost of a separate box of a size larger than the full-sized shade, when only a few are to be packed, nor would such a paper box of such size afford the degree of strength and protection needed to guard against Even when dozens of these paper cones are placed closely, one within the other, without other protection, they are liable to the same. kind of damage above mentioned, though in a lesser degree.

.This is due not only to their being in a conical (or sometimes cylindrical) form, but mainly'to the size of the cone or-cylinder as compared with the exceeding thinness of the material, and to the fact that the top and bottom'of the shade are entirely open, and offer no appreciable resistance to pressure. Perhaps more than ten or fifteen per cent.'of all the paper shades made are in this way damaged hopelessly before they reach the consumer, and the aggregate loss, if estimated in dollars, is enormous.

It is evidently, therefore, a great desideratum, as found from long experience, to avoid this loss; to ma re and send the shades to market in a safer and more compact form; so to pack them that it is almost impossible to damage them except by extraordinary casualties; and, at the same time that this isdone, incidentally to furnish them to the merchant and consumer, either in numbers or singly, in a far more acceptable condition and at a materially less price than usual.

This is what we claim to have accomplished by our invention, which we will now proceed to describe, and which consists in a compact marketable encased package of self-sealing paper-shade blanks, either laid flat, like sheets of paper, one upon the other, or coiled snugly into a very small compass; and also, in this novel mode of packing them,

In the drawings Figure 1 represents the inner face of one of our improved self-sealing shade-blanks, and for which we shall apply for separate Letters Patent.

Figure 2 represents a nest of the same, coiled into a small compass ready for packing.

Figure 3 exhibits a nest of the same, within; a-box, the same being shown partly in section.

Figure 4 represents a number of the same shades laid flat, one upon another, and

Figure 5, the same, within abox or case, the latter being partly in section.

In the several figures, A A A designate the paper blank, cut to a shape desired, and which, of course,

may be varied at will; and

a a designate that edge or margin which we prepare with a dried gum for the purpose of rendering them self-sealing, the other edge having no such preparation applied to it.

B represents a small cylindrical box, capable of holding from one to a dozen or more (as may be desired) of our improved shades, and also leaving ample room for one or more of the rings which hold the This box is preferably made of form to the shape of the blank, thus leaving the centre space only, in which a ring might be placed. When but three or four of the shades are thus packed flat, the'ring, if boxed with them, would need to have its spring-fingers somewhat flattened, or the ring and its springs, being made detachable and capable of being put together without the need of rivets, solder, or tools, as in our improvement for which a patent, as above mentioned, has recently been ordered to issue to us, might be laid nearly flat, but separately, within the box. The ring, in any case, may be left out of the box altogether.

Bearing now in mind that the only conditions wanted in a ring, to admit of a shade being readily and quickly applied to it, and firmly secured to its exterior by the mere act of moistening the gummed edge, and bringing the two edges together, and lapping the same, are,

;first, that it shall be of appropriate size and of proper -form at its lower edge, and, second, that it shall have a rib or projection above the lower edge, against which the top edge of the' shade may abut, and thus, when put on, be incapable of either rising or fallin and Disuch a ring has recently been invented by us and ordered to be patented, as above mentioned;) and, bearing also in mind that the only condition needed to permit such a properly-cut shade to be instantly applied, and in the dark, to such a Iin g is, that one of its straight edges shall have been previously prepared with a dried gum, requiring merely to be moistened, as in a selfsealing envelope, and its edges brought together, the

great value and importance of our present improvement become manifest.

These two improvements of ours, in both the ring and shade, are the precursors and prompters of our present novel mode of packing, which, as shades have heretofore been made, could not be practised.

By means of this improvement, (if a ring be also packed in the box,) we are enabled to'supply the household for the same cost as for a single shade and ring, as now made and sold in the market; a little box containing three perfect unsoiled shades and a ring, to

which each. may be applied as the other becomes burnt or defaced, thus practically furnishing to the public three shades for the price of one, whilst the same ring is capable of serving for any number of similar shades for years.

It will be apparent at a glance that, by our mode of packing, not only does each shade protect the other and itself better than by any other mode in which they have ever before been made and packed, but that the outer case also affords the completest protection, not only from dust and damage during transportation, but also in handling in the stores,'in delivering to the purchaser, and in preservation of the reserved shades,

' the purposes described.

until a freshone is to be substituted for a mutilated one. For persons living on the borders or frontiers, at remote distances from towns or stores, in the army, or elsewhere Where a shade may be wanted, and may with difiiculty be procured, our invention is of great value, as it allows the blanks suflicient for dozens of shades to be packed away and carried in a small corner of a trunk or carpet-bag, or, if laid flat, in a space no greater thanthat required for half a ream or less of writing-paper; in short,'it allows their plentiful supply in localities where otherwise they would not be carried at all.

Our mode of packing being an outgrowth of our improvement of the dried gummed margin; which is a characteristic of the shades so packed, we are also enabled to ship across seas, and through all seasons of the year, and to all climates, our improved packages, without impairing the efiiciency of the blank, which always as ready for use as a letter-envelope, whilst the greatly-reduced bulk of our packed shades lessens very materially the expense of freight.

By reason of leaving the ends ununited and coiling the blanks, the ring may be conveniently dropped over and outside of them when in the box, as shown in fig. 3, and transported with them. \Vhen this is done, the

ring serves to hold them together, and afl'ords additional protection. Vhen shades are gummed together before transportation this cannot be, for the reason that the tip of the shade is not small enough to allow the ring to be put outside oi" it. y

We are aware that innumerable articles of merchandise have been packed for preservation, and convenience of transportation, in all kinds of boxes, but we have never known a paper lamp-shade blank, in one piece,

ready for immediate application and use, to be so made that it could be packed in a space far smaller than it would occupy when on the lamp; nor arewe aware that a lamp-shade was ever, before our invention thereof, made with one only of its marginal edges prepared with a dried gum or cement.

Whenever it is desirable for persons living at points remote from towns to have a larger supply than two or three shades for one ring, it will be seenthat, by merely coiling them a little tighter, a dozen or so, instead of three, may be packed without detriment in the same-box designed for three, thus not adding a particle to the bulk, or to the inconvenience of trans portation.

To aid in keeping the nest of fiat shade-blanks snugly together, we find it desirable, in some cases, to put a simple strap or band of paper around them, such as usually surrounds a package of envelopes. One or more of these straps may be used upon a nest, as may be desired.

We claim a compact encased package of two or more paper lamp-shade blanks, having a single margin prepared with a dried gum or cement, and with the margins or ends left unu'nited, substantially as and for EDWARD, A. LOOKE. WM. N. WEEDEN. Witnesses:

Framers GOULD,

O. WARREN BROWN. 

